Tuesday, August 15

Editor's Note: The CNN Wire is a running log of the latest news from CNN World Headquarters, reported by CNN's correspondents and producers, and The CNN Wire editors. "Posted" times are Eastern Daylight.

Russian border guards kill Japanese fisherman in disputed area

TOKYO (CNN) -- The Japanese government lodged a "strong protest" with Moscow Wednesday after Russian border security guards fired on a Japanese crab boat in disputed waters, killing a fisherman, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

According to the Japanese Coast Guard, the shooting occurred off the shore of Kaigara Island. Kaigara is one of several islands in northern Japan long the subject of dispute between the two nations, but incidents such as Wednesday's shooting are rare.

The fisherman's boat was captured by the Russian guards and taken to another nearby island, Kunashiri, the Japanese Coast Guard said.

In confirming the death of the fisherman, the Russia embassy said three other members of the crew were safe.

Russian border guards may have killed fisherman in disputed area

TOKYO (CNN) -- The Japanese government lodged a "strong protest" in Moscow Wednesday after Russian border security guards fired on a Japanese crab boat in disputed waters, possibly killing a fisherman, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

According to the Japanese Coast Guard, the shooting occurred off the shore of Kaigara Island. Kaigara is one of several islands in northern Japan long the subject of dispute between the two nations, but incidents such as Wednesday's shooting are rare.

The fisherman's boat was captured by the Russian guards and taken to another nearby island, Kunashiri, the Japanese Coast Guard said.

The coast guard said a fisherman was killed, while the Foreign Ministry reported a crew member of the boat was possibly killed.

--CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki contributed to this report. (Posted 1:54 a.m.)

Death toll from Chinese typhoon rises to 319; nearly 100 still missing

BEIJING (CNN) -- The death toll from China's typhoon Saomai stood at 319 as of Tuesday night, as another 24 bodies were found in the worst-hit city, Fuding in southeast China's coastal province of Fujian, according to the nation's state-run Xinhua news agency.

Fuding's government told the news agency 202 people had been confirmed dead in the city and 175 bodies had been recovered. Previously, 87 people died and 52 were missing in east China's Zhejiang Province, where Saomai made landfall, and two others dead and one person missing in nearby Jiangxi Province.

The total fatalities in Fujian Province was 230, Xinhua reported. Another 94 people were missing in Fuding. (Posted 10:58 p.m.)

AOL digging for buried gold, platinum in Massachusetts

(CNN) -- AOL is digging for gold in an effort to recover millions owed by a man it sued for sending out spam, searching for gold and platinum bars he is believed to have buried.

"This is just a case of a company working on behalf of its customers -- going after a spammer's assets to the tune of $12.8 million," said AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham. "We have tried to contact the defendant ... but to no avail. We have tried every legal avenue possible."

AOL won a $12.8 million judgment last year in U.S. District Court in Virginia against Davis Wolfgang Hawke after suing him for sending millions of unsolicited e-mails to its customers. Because it has been unable to contact Hawke to recover any of the money, AOL plans to dig on Medfield, Mass., property for the bars, Graham said. The search has been permitted by the court. AOL is owned by Time Warner, which is also the parent company of CNN. (Posted 10:39 p.m.)

Japan: Russian border guards fatally shoot fisherman in disputed area

TOKYO (CNN) -- A fisherman on a Japanese crab boat was fatally shot early Wednesday by Russian border security guards while in disputed territory, the Japanese Coast Guard said.

The shooting occurred off the shore of Kaigara Island, which is off the Japanese island of Hokkaido. Kaigara is one of several islands long the subject of dispute between the two nations, but incidents such as Wednesday's shooting are rare.

The fisherman's boat was captured by the Russian guards and taken to another nearby island, Kunashiri, the Japanese Coast Guard said. No further details were immediately available. --CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki contributed to this report. (Posted 9:37 p.m.)

NYC to release newly discovered 9/11 emergency calls

NEW YORK (CNN) -- New York City will release newly discovered recordings of emergency calls made on Sept. 11, 2001, on Wednesday, the city's Law Department said Tuesday.

The 1,613 calls being released consist mainly of internal calls made between New York City Fire Department (FDNY) and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) dispatchers, and calls with local hospitals regarding their readiness to treat the injured. However, voices of 21 members of the FDNY who died during the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center will also be among the calls released, according to the FDNY.

The city also plans to release a number of civilian 911 calls made that day, 10 of which were made from people in the World Trade Center. According to the FDNY, two calls and part of a third call were not previously released because they had been identified as potential evidence in the federal criminal trial of 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. Out of the seven other 911 calls being released on Wednesday, only two callers were able to be identified. -- From CNN's Zak Sos (Posted 8:50 p.m.)

Former President Ford admitted for tests at Mayo Clinic

(CNN) -- Former President Gerald Ford has been admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. for "testing and evaluation," his office said Tuesday night.

The brief statement from Ford's office did not disclose any details about the condition of the 93-year-old former president, or any treatment that he was receiving. No updates on his condition "are anticipated prior to early next week," the statement said.

Ford, who has been in frail health in recent years, has been hospitalized four times since December, including late last month, when he was admitted for two days to a hospital in Vail, Colo., after suffering shortness of breath. In January, he spent 11 days in a hospital near his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., being treated for pneumonia. (Posted 8:15 p.m.)

Israeli airstrike hits Gaza; Palestinians say 2 killed

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Two men were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a home in Gaza on Tuesday, Palestinian sources told CNN. Israel Defense Forces confirmed the airstrike, but said it was targeting what authorities believed was a weapons warehouse in the village of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.

IDF would not confirm whether anyone was killed in the operation. Palestinian sources said the family residing in the home received a call from the Israeli army half an hour before the incident, asking them to leave. But, they said, no one left the home because they did not have enough time.

The house belongs to Hassan Shaath, the sources said, and he was one of the men killed in the strike. Israel has conducted periodic airstrikes and raids into Gaza since the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier from a border post in late June. The whereabouts of the soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, remain unknown. (Posted 7:55 p.m.)

Senator denies disparaging remark, claims misunderstanding

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) denied he used a racially-charged remark last week to describe a campaign worker for his Democratic opponent, saying Tuesday in a statement his comments have been "greatly misunderstood by members of the media."

Allen called S.R. Sidarth, a volunteer on Democrat Jim Webb's Senate campaign, a "Macaca" on two occasions during an event on Friday in Breaks, located in the southwest corner of Virginia. Macaca is a class of monkey, including the rhesus monkey.

In the four-paragraph statement issued Tuesday, Allen said, he made up a nickname for Sidarth, "which was in no way intended to be racially derogatory. Any insinuations to the contrary are completely false."

Before the statement was released, Sidarth said he thought Allen was "trying to, trying to point out the fact that I was a person of color, in a crowd that was not otherwise." -- By CNN's Mark Preston and Andrea Koppel (Posted 7:30 p.m.)

Judge rejects claim for Katrina flood damage, but grants wind

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (CNN) -- A federal judge Tuesday rejected an insurance claim filed by a couple whose Pascagoula, Miss., home was flooded last year by Hurricane Katrina, but found in favor of the plaintiffs on their claim about wind damage.

Senior District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. said the insurance policy on the house owned by Paul and Julie Leonard specifically excluded flood damage, but ordered that Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. pay the couple $1,228.16, which represented wind damage.

Both sides claimed victory.

"The insurance companies have been saying to everyone, under that clause that they lost today that, if you had one millimeter of salt water in your home, there was no coverage, even if the hurricane winds blew off your roof," said plaintiffs' attorney Richard Scruggs. "That, now, is off the playing field."

Nationwide, in a written statement, said, "We are very pleased that the court ruled in our favor and upheld the long-standing flood exclusion language which is foundational to traditional homeowner policies across the country." (Posted 4:45 p.m.)

Up to 3,500 U.N. troops to move into Lebanon within 15 days, peacekeeping official says

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The United Nations plans to deploy 3,000 to 3,500 troops in 10 to 15 days in southern Lebanon as a "vanguard force" working with Lebanese troops to consolidate the cease-fire there, according to the deputy director of U.N. peacekeeping, Hedi Annabi.

The troops will be deployed in what U.N. peacekeeping officials described Tuesday as a "rolling exercise" replacing Israeli troops with Lebanese and U.N. troops starting from the northeast at Marjayoun and moving southwest.

Once in place, the U.N. troops, known as U.N. Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), will work along with Lebanese troops to try to create a demilitarized zone between the Litani River and the "blue line" -- the border between Israel and Lebanon.

The United Nations is dispensing with many of the usual bureaucratic rituals associated with putting peacekeepers in place, with officials noting the need for speed in this situation. --From CNN's Liz Neisloss (Posted 4:35 p.m.)

More than half of those arrested in "Operation Black Gold Rush" are illegal aliens who controlled a pipeline of heroin stretching from Nayarit, Mexico, to Nashville, DEA officials said.

Anti-drug agents said the "Sanchez organization" had been able to produce and smuggle Mexican-produced black tar heroin across the Southwest border hidden in vehicles or under the clothes of illegals who walked into the United States. It was responsible for trafficking about 8 kilograms of heroin, with a street value of $2 million, into the country per month, said Alice Fisher, assistant U.S. attorney general. (Posted 4 p.m.)

Would-be Cuban migrants held at Guantanamo Naval Base while awaiting word on future

MIAMI (CNN) -- About 50 Cuban migrants, including a 10-year-old child who has diabetes, are being detained indefinitely at Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, according to a Cuban exile group in Miami. Federal officials Tuesday confirmed the number.

The Cubans were picked up at sea at various times trying to reach the United States, said the exile group, Democracy Movement.

Normally they would have been returned to Cuba -- U.S. policy requires all migrants interdicted at sea be sent home under what is known as the wet-foot, dry foot rule.

But after interviews aboard U.S. Coast Guard cutters, it was determined that those migrants appeared to meet the standard of having a well-founded fear of persecution if repatriated, and therefore were diverted to Guantanamo, the exile group said.

The exile group said Cubans can be held at the base indefinitely until the United States can find a third country that will take them. --From CNN National Correspondent Susan Candiotti (Posted 3:38 p.m.)

LONDON (CNN) -- British investigators believe some of the money raised to help victims of last year's earthquake in Pakistan may have been used to fund the alleged airliner terror plot, and a U.S. government official said Tuesday that such money trails have been a "major help" in several probes.

The money was collected by a front group for Pakistani charity Jamaat al-Dawat, which supports Islamic militants, the official said. A spokesman for the group has denied the allegations.

The funds are believed to have come from the group's network in Britain, and was not sent from Pakistan, British and U.S. investigators said.

The U.S. official also said it was his understanding that the charity being investigated by the British is a front for Jamaat al-Dawat, previously known as Lashkar-e-Taiba. (Posted 2:39 p.m.)

Evidence lacking in cell phone terror plot cases, officials say

(CNN) -- In the space of a week, two criminal cases involving Arab-American men purchasing cell phones allegedly for use in terrorist plot have fallen apart due to lack of evidence.

The Washington County, Ohio, prosecutor's office announced Tuesday it has dropped felony terrorism charges against two men who were arrested last week, saying there is a lack of evidence "to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt," according to a press release Tuesday.

That follows an FBI statement Monday saying it had no evidence that three men arrested in Michigan last week are connected to any terrorist plot, while state authorities backed away from claims the men were targeting a major bridge in the state. Nevertheless, local prosecutors in Tuscalo County say they intend to pursue felony terrorism-related charges against the men. --From CNN's Hussein Saddique (Posted 2:32 p.m.)

Diplomats trying to work out details of multinational force

NABATIYE, Lebanon (CNN) -- As the cease-fire between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants held Tuesday, U.N. diplomats in New York tried to hammer out the makeup of a multinational force to be deployed to southern Lebanon to help prevent a return of violence.

The force -- called for by the U.N. resolution to end the violence -- will supplement the current 2,000 U.N. Interim Forces in Lebanon already in the region.

While the first 200 U.N. troops could arrive by the start of next week, UNIFIL chief Maj. Gen. Alain Pellegrini said it could be November before the full contingent arrives.

The U.N. team will support an estimated 15,000 Lebanese troops who could begin moving into areas south of the Litani River by midnight Wednesday, Lebanese Defense Ministry sources told CNN. (Posted 1:26 p.m.)

Woman accused of killing her preacher husband released on bail

(CNN) -- A woman accused of killing her preacher husband earlier this year was released from jail on $750,000 bond in Selmer, Tenn., Tuesday.

Mary Winkler, 32, pleaded not guilty last month to a charge of first-degree murder after she was indicted by a grand jury. She is accused of killing her husband, Matthew Winkler, 31, who was minister of the Fourth Street Church of Christ in Selmer. (Posted 12:57 p.m.)

N.Y. expands 9/11 health, death benefit coverage for rescue workers

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Gov. George E. Pataki signed three bills Monday expanding health and death benefits to 9/11 rescue workers who have fallen sick or died in the nearly five years after the World Trade Center rescue effort.

The bills, signed Monday, include a law allowing families of those who died in the years following the tragedy to receive the same benefits as those who died on Sept. 11, 2001. Another law allows recovery workers who became ill after a two-year deadline to reapply for workers' compensation benefits, according to a press release from the governor's office. --From CNN's Rossana Shokrian (Posted 12:39 p.m.)

Police: Another suspect arrested in alleged British terror plot

LONDON (CNN) -- Another man has been arrested in connection with the alleged British anti-terror plot, bringing the number in custody to 24, British police said Tuesday.

They said the suspect was picked up in the Thames Valley near London.

The suspects are accused of planning to blow up commercial jetliners over the Atlantic. (Posted 12:30 p.m.)

Sources: Lebanese troops to enter southern Lebanon end of day Wednesday

BEIRUT (CNN) -- Lebanese troops have been ordered to deploy into southern Lebanon starting at midnight Wednesday and continuing into early Thursday, Defense Ministry sources said Tuesday.

According to the sources, the troops will gather on the coastal road south of Beirut, at the Awali and Naamah bridges, and will travel to the south through the night. --From CNN Correspondent Brent Sadler (Posted 12:19 p.m.)

Presidential assailant John Hinckley asks for more visits to parents' home

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Presidential assailant John Hinckley is asking a federal judge to allow him to continue visits to his parents' home without supervision.

Hinckley was committed to a mental hospital after being found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. Last year He was granted seven unsupervised visits to his parents' home in Williamsburg, Va. In a court filing this month, lawyers for Hinckley say he has completed all but one of those trips and has complied fully with all conditions.

The Justice Department responded with a legal filing saying it opposes the request for continued conditional releases for Hinckley because it "is concerned about the lack of reliable" personnel who have the responsibility of monitoring him. --From CNN Senior Producer Kevin Bohn (Posted 12:01 p.m.)

Israeli forces will complete their pull-out within 10 days, according to Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz.

U.N. peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon are now patrolling day and night and will grow in number in the coming days, U.N. Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) spokesman Milos Strugar said.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton said Tuesday that diplomats "are working hard" to determine which countries will make up the enhanced UNIFIL force.

Currently there are about 2,000 UNIFIL observers in south Lebanon. Up to 15,000 Lebanese troops are expected to be deployed, and they should begin moving into areas south of the Litani River by the end of the week, Lebanon's special envoy to the United Nations, Nouhad Mahmoud, told CNN. (Posted 11:08 a.m.)

Lebanese roads full as civilians head home

NABATIYE, Lebanon (CNN) -- With the cease-fire in effect between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants, thousands of Lebanese civilians displaced by the 34-day conflict clogged southbound roads, trying to return home despite warnings from the Israeli military that it was not yet safe. Unexploded ordnance killed two people and wounded nine others Monday, hours after the cease-fire took effect, Lebanese civil defense officials said.

Because most of the bridges over the Litani River were destroyed in more than four weeks of airstrikes, some people waded through the water, including mothers carrying their babies, CNN's Brent Sadler reported.

A small number of clashes between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli soldiers were also reported on Monday and Tuesday, and the Israel Defense Forces said at least nine Hezbollah militants were killed. (Posted 10:34 a.m.)

Al-Assad, Ahmadinejad praise Hezbollah

(CNN) -- The leaders of Syria and Iran Tuesday praised the Hezbollah resistance and criticized Israel and its supporters in the wake of the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

"Israel is an enemy (and) does not want peace, because peace will impose on Israel to return the Arab lands," Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said.

He described Hezbollah as "the condition necessary to achieve peace."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Hezbollah was victorious against Israel, despite the immense damage inflicted on Lebanon.

"Those who said our army is unbreakable and undefeatable and (vowed to) create major destruction within 30 days were defeated against the power of the young people," Ahmadinejad said. "And these young people managed to raise the flags of victory across Lebanon."

Some Iranians in the audience waved photos of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during the speech. (Posted 10:32 a.m.)

Rockets fired inside southern Lebanon, source unknown

ISRAEL-LEBANON BORDER (CNN) -- About 10 rockets were fired inside southern Lebanon Tuesday, one day after the cease-fire went into effect between Israel and Hezbollah, the Israeli military reported.

The rockets landed inside Lebanese territory, and Israeli forces will not respond to their firing, a military spokesman told CNN's Chris Lawrence.

There was no claim of responsibility for the latest launches.

Hezbollah fired scores of rockets every day into northern Israel during the conflict that was halted by a fragile truce Monday morning. Israeli officials said those attacks killed 41 civilians. (Posted 10:25 a.m.)

The Israeli soldiers opened fire when four Hezbollah fighters came toward them, the IDF said. The other fighter also was shot, but the IDF said it didn't know his condition.

Israeli soldiers shot another armed Hezbollah fighter when he advanced toward them in an incident early Tuesday, a spokesman for the IDF said. The spokesman said he didn't know the man's condition.

According to Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Nabulsi, 63 Hezbollah fighters were killed in the 34-day battle with Israeli forces. Nabulsi said that death toll is 20 percent less than the one Israel has released. (Posted 10:20 a.m.)

Wholesale prices increase less than expected

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Prices paid at the wholesale level increased at a much slower pace in July, according to the government's latest inflation reading Tuesday. It showed prices outside of food and energy unexpectedly decreasing.

The Producer Price Index, the measure of prices paid by businesses, rose 0.1 percent in July, down from the 0.5 percent rise in June.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a 0.4 percent rise in the overall PPI. The so-called core PPI, which omits often-volatile food and energy prices, declined 0.3 percent. Economists had forecast the core PPI would be unchanged from the 0.2 percent rise in June. (Posted 10:18 a.m.)

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Nine people died and 36 others were wounded Tuesday when a suicide bomber detonated a truck outside the political headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Mosul, a police official said.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is a member of the PUK.

Police said the explosion destroyed part of the building in eastern Mosul's al Tamim neighborhood, and most of the casualties were party members. -- From CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq. (Posted 9:28 a.m.)

Hospital: No change in Sharon's condition

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- A day after his health took a turn for the worse, the condition of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remains unchanged on Tuesday, according to Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv.

The hospital announced Monday that the former prime minister was suffering from pneumonia in both lungs, and that his brain scan showed "worsening cerebral" condition. Sharon, 78, has been comatose since suffering a massive stroke in January.

He was transferred to the intensive care unit at Sheba Medical Center nearly three weeks ago, after his health took a turn for the worse. Doctors are treating Sharon with a "broad-spectrum antibiotic and anti-inflammatory steroid treatment." (Posted 9:08 a.m.)

Syrian president praises Hezbollah as path to peace

DAMASCUS, Syria (CNN) -- Breaking his overall silence during the monthlong war between Hezbollah and Israel, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad chided some Lebanese forces for supporting Israel and blamed the Jewish state for a "pre-emptive war" against the Lebanese militia.

"Some Lebanese forces failed in their plan to support Israel" and its attempts to "destroy the resistance," the Syrian leader said Tuesday in a lengthy speech on the first full day of a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel. "Therefore I look at Lebanon to be with Israel."

After Syrian forces withdrew from Lebanon last year following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, an anti-Syrian political majority came to power in Lebanon.

Al-Assad praised "the honorable battles waged" by Hezbollah and said the resistance "is not the antithesis of peace, but at the very least the condition necessary to achieve peace."

Syria, along with Iran, are seen as the true power behind Hezbollah, and the United States has held both countries accountable for the militia's actions. The United States and Israel classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. (Posted 8:37 a.m.)

U.S., Iraq now agree: Deadly weekend blasts caused by insurgents

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- After a public disagreement with the Iraqi government over what caused a deadly weekend blast in Baghdad that killed 63 Iraqis and wounded 140 others, the U.S. military Tuesday said a series of insurgent attacks caused the explosions.

Initially the U.S. military said the blasts were the result of a gas explosion, despite the Iraqi government's insistence that car bombs and rockets were to blame.

Tuesday's statement said two car bombs touched off the gas explosion in Baghdad's Zafraniya neighborhood, leveling a residential building.

The blasts were part of a coordinated attack involving four car bombs that detonated in a 30-minute timespan, destroying four buildings within a one-mile radius.

It is the second time in two days that the U.S. military and the Iraqi government had publicly disagreed over the events surrounding suspected insurgent activity. (Posted 8:20 a.m.)

British investigators given more time to hold terror suspects

LONDON (CNN) -- British anti-terror investigators have been given another day to hold 22 more suspects in an alleged plot to blow up commercial jetliners over the Atlantic, a statement from New Scotland Yard said Tuesday.

On Monday, investigators were given permission to hold one suspect, so 23 suspects remain in custody. Warrants to detain them were extended until Wednesday.

The extensions are procedural; police can hold terror suspects up to 28 days without filing formal charges. Another person arrested in the case, a 24th suspect, has been released without charge, the statement said.

"In all operations, some people may be released early without charge while others may remain in custody for further investigation," according to the statement. "This is not unusual and is to be expected in large and complex criminal enquiries." (Posted 7:05 a.m.)

The resolution outlines the terms of a cease-fire to end the Israeli - Hezbollah conflict and gives control of southern Lebanon to the Lebanese government. (Posted 6:47 a.m.)

U.N. forces expand in southern Lebanon

BEIRUT (CNN) -- U.N. forces expanded their presence in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops continued to pull out, a spokesman for the United Nations said Tuesday.

According to UNIFIL (U.N. Interim Forces in Lebanon) , spokesman Milos Strugar, U.N. troops are now patrolling day and night and will grow in number in the coming days.

Stugar said U.N. forces are involved in a complex operation in southern Lebanon and have begun de-mining the area and disposing of unexploded ordnance. According to Stugar, areas where the heaviest fighting took place were up to 80 percent destroyed. (Posted 6: 46 a.m.)

Xinhua: Typhoon Saomai kills 295

BEIJING (CNN) -- China raised the death toll from Typhoon Saomai to 295 people late Monday, with 94 still missing, after last week's landfall in east China's Zhejiang Province, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The typhoon is the eighth to strike China this year, Xinhua said.

It made landfall Thursday afternoon with a top wind speed of 216 kilometers per hour (134 mph) -- the strongest typhoon to hit the southeastern part of the country in the past five decades. (Posted 12:55 a.m.)